DAVID Willey and Steve Patterson have struck on the opening morning of Yorkshire’s Specsavers County Championship Division One match against Surrey at The Oval.
The champions, invited to field after opting to toss, will be just the happier of the two camps given the batsman-friendly conditions.
They have restricted Surrey to 82-2 from 32 overs at lunch, having earlier reduced them to 36-2 in the 24th over.
Surrey struggled to break free of some tight bowling from a Yorkshire attack including two spinners in Adil Rashid and Azeem Rafiq.
Willey had Rory Burns lbw and Patterson had the opener Dominic Sibley brilliantly caught one-handed by a diving Andrew Hodd down the leg-side.
Former Yorkshire overseas batsman Aaron Finch, spending a brief time on duty at The Oval, managed to counter-attack shortly before lunch with five fours in his first 20 balls, including two down the ground off Patterson.
He will resume this afternoon on 30 not out with Zafar Ansari 26.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here